Messina, the distinctive living-learning program for first-year students at Loyola University Maryland, will benefit from a new $2 million endowed fund comprising a $500,000 Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and $1.5 million raised from dozens of generous donors.

Loyola was awarded the NEH Challenge Grant in fall 2013 and was required to match the grant funds three-to-one through fundraising within five years. With the support of more than 60 donors, including two whose gifts accounted for more than half of the match dollars, Loyola reached the $1.5 million goal two years early.

“When we received the NEH Challenge Grant three years ago, we were confident that our alumni, parents, and donors would step up and make it possible for us to receive the full funding,” said Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., president. “What we did not anticipate was that their enthusiasm for supporting Messina would be so strong that we would meet the deadline two years early. That powerful response reflects the conviction of our Loyola community that Messina is a true asset to the Jesuit, liberal arts education we are offering to our students. We are most grateful to those who made a gift to make this possible, and we continue to celebrate the many ways Messina strengthens the intellectual and social life of our University.”